TURKISH PRIME MINISTER SAYS ADL [ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE] WILL RECALL ITS FORMER STATEMENT ON POSSIBLE RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
arminfo
2007-08-27 13:36:00
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stating that the Jewish lobby
in the United States, the ADL [Anti-Defamation League], which was
reported to have changed its stance regarding the 1915 Armenian
incidents, has sent a message to the Office of the prime minister,
said that the false step made previously has been retracted with
this statement. Erdogan said: ‘The indicated that, just as they have
provided all the support they could until now, they will provide it
in the future as well,’Anatolia news agency reports.
Erdogan, after casting his vote in the second round of the presidential
election, was questioned by journalists in the corridors: ‘You spoke
with [Israeli President] Shimon Perez. There are reports that the
Jewish lobby in America has taken a step backwards; what are the
developments in this regard?’ Stating that the text with the ADL’s
written message had come, he said: ‘They said that they share our
sensitivities in particular on account of this statement regarding us,
and they expressed the mistake they had made in the written fax they
sent us.’
Erdogan, pointing out that he has to date suggested to Armenia
that the topic be studied by a commission comprised of historians,
archaeologists, and political scientists, and that politicians sit
together and work on this, noted that Armenia has not responded to him
on this matter. Erdogan said: ‘They [the ADL] indicate that they agree
with this as well. On account of this, they expressed their regret.’
In response to a question, Erdogan stated that a fax had come from
the ADL.
Asked ‘are they going to declare this to the world, or will it just
be limited to a fax coming to the Office of the prime minister?’,
he said: ‘No. It has already been posted on their own [web]site.’ In
response to the question ‘did they fax to you what is on the site?’,
Erdogan said ‘I do not know the one on their site, but there is a
fax that came to the Office of the prime minister.’